In the south-east, a hosepipe ban

More than 8 million people across southeast England are to be banned from using hosepipes and sprinklers as water companies cope with one of the worst droughts on record.

Thames Water announced yesterday that the ban would come into force across its supply area on April 3 and would probably last all summer. The restrictions are the first in the region for 15 years and follow more than a year of below average rainfall. Last year was the third driest since records began in 1897.

Jeremy Pelczer, chief executive of Thames Water, said: "The situation is serious. The drought across the south-east has now gone on for so long that we have to be prudent and introduce measures that will make best use of limited supplies and help protect the environment." The restrictions will affect people from Kent to Gloucestershire. The company warned of more severe measures if rainfall does not increase significantly in the next few weeks.

Nick Tennant, of Thames Water, said the companies could ask the government to declare emergency drought conditions; then supplies would be turned off and customers would be forced to draw water from tankers in the street. "That's very much a last resort and we hope it won't come to that," he said.

Groundwater levels were "dangerously low". The company said it was spending £500,000 a day fixing holes in its leaky Victorian pipe network.

Winter rain usually soaks through the soil to top up underground water flowing into rivers and boreholes. But much of spring and summer rainfall evaporates or is taken up by plants.

Other water companies are considering similar action. Folkestone and Dover Water became the first in Britain to get "water scarcity" status, allowing imposition of meters for all customers.